The Marines fought off a near upset from the Army this week in the 2013 Warrior Games, claiming a fourth Chairman’s Cup and another year of bragging rights as undefeated champion of the athletic competition for troops injured by combat, illness or accidents.

At closing ceremonies Thursday night in Colorado Springs, Colo., the 50-member team of active duty and veteran Marines belted their hymn for the crowd, singing “From the Halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli…” Some of the athletes sat in wheelchairs or stood on prosthetic legs. Some couldn’t see the cup they passed around, but they kissed and hugged it and each other.

Marine camaraderie and spirit, including a refusal to accept defeat or one’s own limitations, physical or mental, carried them to victory, said Col. Willard Buhl, commanding officer of the Wounded Warrior Regiment for active duty Marines in recovery.

“That’s how we live every day and that’s how these athletes trained and how they came together as a family, as a unit. They performed like Marines. We think we are the best in the world, and we are!” Buhl told U-T in a phone interview after the ceremony, his voice ebullient with pride.

The Warrior Games were created to encourage a healthy, active lifestyle for troops with permanent physical disabilities such as amputations, as well as traumatic brain injury, post traumatic stress disorder and other ailments.

Visually impaired runners circled the track with a helping hand to guide them. During trials, one athlete used his teeth to draw his archery bow. The crowd of families and other supporters rattled the gym with their cheers during sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball tournaments.

“Sometimes we have to hide therapy with fun and competition. And this is a very, very important aspect of our healing. It’s not just the physical, it is absolutely the spiritual connection. The teamwork,” Buhl said.

Deloitte was presenting sponsor, with the U.S. Olympic Committee as host. Other supporters included the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, USO, Fisher House Foundation, AT&T, BP, Budweiser and the Semper Fi Fund.

“Paralympic sport has a tremendously positive impact on individuals with physical disabilities, and the Warrior Games allow us to salute these fine young men and women who have served their countries honorably,” Charlie Huebner, chief of paralympics for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said in a press release.

The competition at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and the Air Force Academy included 260 athletes grouped into teams of varying sizes representing the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard, Air Force, Special Operations and British troops.

The Marine Corps fielded a team of 50, including 16 from the San Diego area and six women.

The Chairman’s Cup for the top performing team has been jokingly nicknamed the Commandant’s Cup because of the Marine winning streak since the inaugural Warrior Games in 2010. But the competition was closer this year than ever.

For the individual pentathlon competition, a Marine took the Ultimate Champion title the previous two years. This time Air Force Capt. Mitchell Kieffer won.